Comments on: INFINITE JEST readalong pp 665-711 http://www.girldetective.net/?p=6494 Reading, Writing, Movies and Mothering in Minneapolis, Mostly Mon, 11 May 2026 20:31:52 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.7 hourly 1 By: Heidi http://www.girldetective.net/?p=6494&cpage=1#comment-43532 Heidi Sun, 04 Oct 2015 17:42:50 +0000 http://www.girldetective.net/?p=6494#comment-43532 "It" is also what Kate G. calls her depression. Interesting... My parents were far from "helicopter parents"; we ran pretty feral and w/out much supervision all around our immediate neighborhood and some of us explored our smallish city well beyond that. As long as we were in by curfew. That said, I wasn't allowed much leeway when it came to tv or movies. Parents were consulted. Mandatory. Reading was a different matter and I snuck a fair share of "adult" books off my mom's shelf. That stuff happens in your own imagination though, what your mind conjures. I do have vivid memories of going to the movie theater w/ one of my grade school pals and her teen sister to see "Yellow Submarine". Had nightmares for ages afterwards. Those apple-bonkers and shark-bellied fez-wearing dudes and blue meanies... Think my parents must've thought animation, the Beatles, what harm could there be in that? No, I don't know if the teen sister was tripping. “It” is also what Kate G. calls her depression. Interesting…

My parents were far from “helicopter parents”; we ran pretty feral and w/out much supervision all around our immediate neighborhood and some of us explored our smallish city well beyond that. As long as we were in by curfew. That said, I wasn’t allowed much leeway when it came to tv or movies. Parents were consulted. Mandatory. Reading was a different matter and I snuck a fair share of “adult” books off my mom’s shelf. That stuff happens in your own imagination though, what your mind conjures.

I do have vivid memories of going to the movie theater w/ one of my grade school pals and her teen sister to see “Yellow Submarine”. Had nightmares for ages afterwards. Those apple-bonkers and shark-bellied fez-wearing dudes and blue meanies… Think my parents must’ve thought animation, the Beatles, what harm could there be in that? No, I don’t know if the teen sister was tripping.

]]> By: girldetective http://www.girldetective.net/?p=6494&cpage=1#comment-43531 girldetective Sun, 04 Oct 2015 15:13:02 +0000 http://www.girldetective.net/?p=6494#comment-43531 I think one of the things this section shows is that these kids aren't average or normal kids. I'm struck by the endnote about how anyone over 13 would think being actually scarred would be gooey--how many actual 13yo would have this awareness? And it's interesting because DFW both in real life and in the book was a proponent of goo--see the section in which Mario discusses how most people avoid real stuff, and judge others for being moved by it, as Hal is silent about how he likes Wave Bye Bye to the Bureaucrat, the gooey movie he watched before Blood Sister. Yet these kids are being trained for the show, so they are really in a metaphorical (and literal!) bubble and rarified atmosphere at the top of the hill, in the Lung. Also, note the number of "good" parents in the book. As for kid viewing--how many of you watched horror movies early in the life--Halloween, (9th grade) Poltergeist (8th I think) and more? I was not very old. And it is modern, in the era of the helicopter parents, far after DFW and we were raised, that parents are hypercontrolling of screen time and violent tv and video games. I think one of the things this section shows is that these kids aren’t average or normal kids. I’m struck by the endnote about how anyone over 13 would think being actually scarred would be gooey–how many actual 13yo would have this awareness? And it’s interesting because DFW both in real life and in the book was a proponent of goo–see the section in which Mario discusses how most people avoid real stuff, and judge others for being moved by it, as Hal is silent about how he likes Wave Bye Bye to the Bureaucrat, the gooey movie he watched before Blood Sister. Yet these kids are being trained for the show, so they are really in a metaphorical (and literal!) bubble and rarified atmosphere at the top of the hill, in the Lung. Also, note the number of “good” parents in the book.

As for kid viewing–how many of you watched horror movies early in the life–Halloween, (9th grade) Poltergeist (8th I think) and more? I was not very old. And it is modern, in the era of the helicopter parents, far after DFW and we were raised, that parents are hypercontrolling of screen time and violent tv and video games.

]]> By: V http://www.girldetective.net/?p=6494&cpage=1#comment-43529 V Fri, 02 Oct 2015 19:27:48 +0000 http://www.girldetective.net/?p=6494#comment-43529 I meant IJ the film, but it most definitely feels like an apt double meaning. At one point, Heidi, didn't we have one set of parents doing a drive-by, whether it was a visit or dropoff. I meant IJ the film, but it most definitely feels like an apt double meaning.

At one point, Heidi, didn’t we have one set of parents doing a drive-by, whether it was a visit or dropoff.

]]> By: girldetective http://www.girldetective.net/?p=6494&cpage=1#comment-43528 girldetective Fri, 02 Oct 2015 15:51:56 +0000 http://www.girldetective.net/?p=6494#comment-43528 Vince, finding Infinite Jest, the heart or nugget or crux of the novel we're reading, or Infinite Jest, the entertainment tape by JOI? Or, both? I think both. The kids in the tunnel is very much like Steven King's It, and I think both the entertainment and the Blott-reported rodent are referred to at different points as It with a capital "I". Both of the last 2 sections between moon chapters are very long, so I've broken them down into manageable chunks, but that does mean that things will feel unfinished for this section till we get to 808, and then again for everything after 808 to 981. Vince, finding Infinite Jest, the heart or nugget or crux of the novel we’re reading, or Infinite Jest, the entertainment tape by JOI? Or, both? I think both.

The kids in the tunnel is very much like Steven King’s It, and I think both the entertainment and the Blott-reported rodent are referred to at different points as It with a capital “I”.

Both of the last 2 sections between moon chapters are very long, so I’ve broken them down into manageable chunks, but that does mean that things will feel unfinished for this section till we get to 808, and then again for everything after 808 to 981.

]]> By: V http://www.girldetective.net/?p=6494&cpage=1#comment-43527 V Fri, 02 Oct 2015 06:34:26 +0000 http://www.girldetective.net/?p=6494#comment-43527 While this section was all over the map, leading Heidi to term it extra-struggley on Twitter, I do feel we actually got closer to finding IJ, either in the tunnels or in the viewing room with Hal. While this section was all over the map, leading Heidi to term it extra-struggley on Twitter, I do feel we actually got closer to finding IJ, either in the tunnels or in the viewing room with Hal.

]]> By: Heidi http://www.girldetective.net/?p=6494&cpage=1#comment-43526 Heidi Fri, 02 Oct 2015 04:31:24 +0000 http://www.girldetective.net/?p=6494#comment-43526 Read a bit further than p.711, at least according to ebook pagination. Mostly because I wanted to close out the episodes. At "A disadvantage of your nasally ingested cocaine..." p.716 Where are the responsible adults in these ETA kids' lives? Feeling kinda horrified that they're left to their own devices so much, watching things like "Blood Sister". Lengthy meditation on depression super challenging to read. Timing not great. My cod what this whole book, in retrospect, seems to fairly shout re: DFW's own struggles. Read a bit further than p.711, at least according to ebook pagination. Mostly because I wanted to close out the episodes. At “A disadvantage of your nasally ingested cocaine…” p.716

Where are the responsible adults in these ETA kids’ lives? Feeling kinda horrified that they’re left to their own devices so much, watching things like “Blood Sister”.

Lengthy meditation on depression super challenging to read. Timing not great. My cod what this whole book, in retrospect, seems to fairly shout re: DFW’s own struggles.

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